Why Must I Suffer?
Whatever It Takes (Day 5) #Prayer365
All week we’ve been exploring the three requirements to following/knowing Jesus (Luke 9:23 AMP): Self Denial, Take up Your Cross Daily, and Follow Him. To follow Him means three things: believe in Him, conform to Him and suffer for Him. The latter is our focus for this morning: in order to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we must be willing to suffer or die for our faith in Him. This is the epitome, the perfect example of a Whatever it Takes mentality!
You may ask, why must I suffer? What does going through have to do with knowing Jesus? One thing that life has taught me is that you don’t determine who a person is when everything is going good, instead, you truly learn who a person is in the most difficult seasons of life. The same is true in our relationship with God. In order to know Him, we cannot only experience Him in the good times but we must experience Him in seasons of difficulty.
The goodness of God is not limited to cars, houses, and a stacked bank account. Rather, His goodness is extended to us in life’s most challenging times: the loss of a loved one, a difficult diagnosis, a broken marriage, a sick child, a lay-off, in betrayal, rejection, sorrow and pain. These are the times that we truly learn who God is. It’s in suffering that we experience the same grace that was extended to Paul by Jesus. It’s in suffering we experience the love that held Him to the cross. It’s in chaos we find Jehovah Shalom (God, our peace). It’s in our brokenness we find Jehovah Rapha (God, our healer).
Friends may come and some may go in your seasons of tribulation, but not Jesus. He will never leave you to suffer alone but instead he will meet you in your suffering. Don’t have a one-dimension relationship with God, but be willing to do Whatever It Takes to know Him in every way.
Read: Luke 9:23 AMP
P.S. Did you miss this morning's prayer? Catch the replay here!
You may ask, why must I suffer? What does going through have to do with knowing Jesus? One thing that life has taught me is that you don’t determine who a person is when everything is going good, instead, you truly learn who a person is in the most difficult seasons of life. The same is true in our relationship with God. In order to know Him, we cannot only experience Him in the good times but we must experience Him in seasons of difficulty.
The goodness of God is not limited to cars, houses, and a stacked bank account. Rather, His goodness is extended to us in life’s most challenging times: the loss of a loved one, a difficult diagnosis, a broken marriage, a sick child, a lay-off, in betrayal, rejection, sorrow and pain. These are the times that we truly learn who God is. It’s in suffering that we experience the same grace that was extended to Paul by Jesus. It’s in suffering we experience the love that held Him to the cross. It’s in chaos we find Jehovah Shalom (God, our peace). It’s in our brokenness we find Jehovah Rapha (God, our healer).
Friends may come and some may go in your seasons of tribulation, but not Jesus. He will never leave you to suffer alone but instead he will meet you in your suffering. Don’t have a one-dimension relationship with God, but be willing to do Whatever It Takes to know Him in every way.
Read: Luke 9:23 AMP
P.S. Did you miss this morning's prayer? Catch the replay here!
Did you know that Thryve Church prays together 365 days a year? Join us Monday-Friday at 6:30am & Saturday for Prayer at the Altar by dialing 339-207-7471 and then join us Sundays at 11am for Worship Service!